Angus Folk Museum

We found this Museum fascinating and feel that it should be much better known.

The main part, which is larger than visitors at first realise, consists of six cottages whose partition walls have been removed. It's packed with hundreds of items used in all kinds of activities, including bee-keeping; flax production; clothes washing; and butter and cheese making. We were particularly interested to see a tool for slicing Seville oranges. Three of the rooms are furnished - one as a manse sitting-room, one as a schoolroom and one as a (one-roomed) cottage, complete with box beds. In the schoolroom, I was intrigued to read quite beautiful handwriting in books of arithmetical puzzles and to see just how small a typical school satchel was in the days before plentiful books.

The second part of the Museum consists of a courtyard in which stand various old farm and estate equipment (including a tool for digging out tree roots), surrounded by buildings. One is furnished as a bothy, another houses a highly ornate hearse, while yet another is furnished as stables, complete with a model horse and some very fine tack. Here I was shown how to make rope and how to "bone" harness!

The Museum records social history in a visitor-friendly way. It is suitable for most age-groups. One visit just grazes the surface of what there is to see. The Museum staff are friendly and exceedingly knowledgeable about the artefacts. Their pride in the Museum is totally justified.

I warmly recommend a visit. (The Museum is now closed until spring 2011.)